SOCIAL LEGISLATION ON THE PACIFIC COAST 275 



the monarch. The monarch had served the ver}'- useful purpose of 

 welding heterogenous tribes into a more or less unified whole. Through 

 several centuries of this type of nation-making the peoples finally broke 

 their customs of faction and their tribal habits. They became ac- 

 customed to living in the larger nation under a common language and 

 a common law. This type of the strong man's work was then done. 

 Under the changed circumstances his functioning appeared to the gov- 

 erned as tyrannical. The idea of political liberty grew. Liberty and 

 government seemed to form a paradox. And that government which 

 governed least was believed to govern best. 



"With a government owned by the people, tyranny and government 

 ceased to be the same thing. Government and liberty were no longer 

 incompatible. But the idea persisted, as is usual in social evolution, 

 long after the conditions which produced the idea had changed. It 

 persisted perhaps somewhat longer in the United States than elsewhere 

 because of the strong individualism developed by a nation of pioneers, 

 conquering the wilderness in small groups with little aid from the 

 government. 



Government now appears as collective organized effort. Individuals 

 can do little acting singly, but acting through collective organized effort 

 undreamed-of achievements may be made. The world has hardly be- 

 gun to see the possibilities of organization. Hence more government 

 is desired. This is particularly true in modern society with its tre- 

 mendous complexity and heterogeneity. This is the conception of the 

 state from the point of view of government. How is it from the point 

 of view of the individual and liberty? The older notions of liberty 

 meant freedom from an overbearing government, freedom to pursue life, 

 liberty and happiness, and especially to own property. Several years 

 of this unrestrained liberty have resulted in liberty for some, but not 

 for others. The socially strong and the lucky have been successful, but 

 with their success the liberties of the socially weak and the unlucky 

 have fared very badly. The liberties of many must therefore be pro- 

 tected by the government. This is what is meant by the term "social 

 justice." Furthermore, with the conception of government as the col- 

 lective organized effort of all the people, the idea of "the common 

 good " is being emphasized more than " individual rights " and the 

 term " social freedom " is replacing the term " liberty." Therefore, 

 from the point of view of government and of liberty an extension of 

 governmental functions is desired. And the advice of political science 

 on state-building is that modern society demands a government devel- 

 oped beyond the narrow limits of the past to the aims of social justice 

 and collective effort. It will be interesting to observe the developments 

 on the Pacific coast under the light of this new theory of the state. 



Perhaps the reader will argue that this new theory is, after all, only 



